Disclosure Data Weblog

We will add four (4) new transaction type codes, 10J, 11J, 20Y and 21Y, to our data categorization scheme beginning September 9, 2012. 10J and 11J will be included in OTH12. 20Y and 21Y will be included in INDIV12. We will update transactions for report years 2011 and 2012 so that coding is consistent for the 2-year reporting period.

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A recent blog raised concerns that the FEC may have deleted certain data with respect to large contributions during a certain timeframe in the recent past. The suggestion is incorrect.

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Here are the sample data files for the files FEC will convert to pipe delimited text format at the end of this month. The compressed file contains sample files for CN, CM, WEB* and CCL.

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The FEC will convert five more FTP files to pipe delimited text files and produce a new linkage file. We will also change the file extension from .dta to .txt on all the weekly FTP files (INDIV, PAS2, OTH, CM, CN, WEBK, WEBL and WEBALL) We will place the newly converted files in the appropriate 2-year period folder on the FTP server. We have changed some of the data elements and their order in the Candidate Master (CN) file and the PAC Financial Summaries (WEBK) file. Please review these changes. We have not changed the data elements or the order of the data elements in the other files: Committee Master (CM), Candidate Financial Summaries - Current Candidates (WEBL) and Candidate Financial Summaries - All Candidates (WEBALL). I've attached the file formats here.

The FTP files to be converted are:

Existing Files

New File

The candidate committee linkage file will help you associate candidates with their campaign committees (principle and other authorized) and joint fundraising committee

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The new file formats went live April 15, 2012.  The end-of-line (EOL) marker is line feed '\n' (LF, 0x0A, 10 in decimal).  The data files are here.  Links to the final file formats are below.  

INDIVxx (Contributions by Individual)

PASS2xx (Contributions to Candidates (and other expenditures) from Committees)

OTHxx (Any Transaction from One Committee to Another)

The new files are pipe delimited.  There are numerous differences in the file formats when compared to the old fixed width file formats.  The FEC Record number will be 19 digits instead of 7 digits. We will include both employer and occupation as separate data fields. The transaction date is in a single data field.   Please review the file formats carefully.

We added three (3) columns:  FEC electronic file number, transaction ID and entity type. 

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We plan to put the new files into production the week of March 19, 2012.  The files produced on March 25, 2012 will be in the new format.

INDIVxx (Contributions by Individual)

PASS2xx (Contributions to Candidates (and other expenditures) from Committees)

OTHxx (Any Transaction from One Committee to Another)

There are numerous differences in the file formats when compared to the current fixed width file formats.  The compressed file contains three (3) sample data files containing 10,001 records each and one (1) spreadsheet containing format descriptions for the data files.

The files will be placed in election cycle specific folders on the FTP server. 

Here are a few of the changes. The FEC Record number is now 19 digits instead of 7 digits. We include both employer and occupation as separate data fields. The transaction date is in a single data field. We have added entity type and transaction id.  There are numerous changes highlighted in red in the downloadable file format spreadsheet. Please review the file formats carefully.

Once we start producing the files in the new format(s) we will no longer produce the files in the old format.

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We are still doing internal testing and need to push back the release date for these new file formats. 

The last update for the current format will be March 18, 2012.  The files produced on March 25, 2012 will be in the new format.    

The FEC will start producing the transaction level FTP files in a new format. The FTP files that we will produce in the new format are:

INDIVxx (Contributions by Individual)

PASS2xx (Contributions to Candidates (and other expenditures) from Committees)

OTHxx (Any Transaction from One Committee to Another)

The new files will be pipe delimited.  There are numerous differences in the file formats when compared to the current fixed width file formats.  The FEC Record number will be 19 digits instead of 7 digits. We will include both employer and occupation as separate data fields. The transaction date is in a single data field.   Please review the file formats carefully.

We will also be adding three (3) columns:  FEC electronic file number, transaction ID and entity type. 

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Soon the FEC will start producing the transaction level FTP files in a new format. The FTP files that we will produce in the new format are:

INDIVxx (Contributions by Individual)

PASS2xx (Contributions to Candidates (and other expenditures) from Committees)

OTHxx (Any Transaction from One Committee to Another)

We are requesting your input about these file formats. The sample files we have produced are fixed width and semicolon delimited. These sample files are attached to this e-mail. There are numerous differences in the file formats when compared to the current fixed width file formats. We've tried to make the new file formats as consistent as possible. PAS2 has an additional data column - Candidate ID.

Here are a few of the changes. The FEC Record number is now 19 digits instead of 7 digits. We include both employer and occupation as separate data fields. The transaction date is in a single data field. There are numerous changes highlighted in red in the downloadable file format spreadsheet. Please review the file formats carefully.

Should we exclude employer and occupation from OTH? Do you want these files in both formats? We are not ready to produce additional formats but that's coming. Does a semicolon delimiter work or would some other delimiter work better?

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As we reach the first regular financial filing day of 2011 for campaign committees - reports that cover from January 1 through March 31 - take a look at the new campaign finance maps we're presenting at www.fec.gov.[Read More]

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As we prepare to receive the first financial reports of the 2012 election cycle we've put together a page with links to background information on the Presidential race.You will find listings of all the individuals who have filed statements of candidacy for President in 2012 along with historical tables showing activity through the first quarter of off years in previous campaigns and a list of the largest fundraising quarters from the past. When reports come in we will also have a link here to get summaries from each of the filings, just as we did in 2008.[Read More]

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We sat down yesterday afternoon with a group of users of our FTP files to talk about changes we're planning as we move to a different database platform.  First, thanks to everyone who participated - it was very helpful to us and hopefully will improve what we are able to provide going forward.[Read More]

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We're getting ready to implement some internal changes that will effect the information we provide in files on our FTP server.  Before we throw the switch we want to explain the biggest differences you'll see initially and invite you to let us know if these will cause real problems for you and any ideas you have to overcome those problems.[Read More]

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We've started work on several projects for the 2012 election cycle.  Take a look at this list and let us know if we've missed something important or if you have ideas about anything you see here. We plan to have several of these ready for the April quarterly filings this year while others (presidential campaign summaries, more itemized data files) may take a little longer.

• We're continuing to work on new data sets for the catalog.  At the top of the list is a set of files that will (eventually) replace the standard files on our FTP server.  We're thinking specifically of contributions from individuals to any organization that files with us (e.g. indiv10.zip), contributions and expenditures by committees that are directed at candidates (e.g. pas210.zip) and any transactions where an entity registered with us is involved as both the filer (the one reporting the transaction) and also the recipient or other party to the transaction (e.g. oth10.zip). Our plan is first to duplicate the transactions that appear in these files right now on the FTP server but adding additional information (e.g. separating occupation and employer fields) and offering format choices for download (XML, CSV, etc.).
• We know this is really important, but it also represents big technical challenges for us.  We're looking at lots of alternatives for searching and distributing very large files (millions of rows) and while we're making progress we haven't settled on a single approach yet.
  
• Should we change the definitions of what's included in these files?  For example, do we still need to separate individuals in their own file or should there just be a file with all detailed receipt transactions?
• We're also working on a couple of new processes to help search and visualize data from the reports we receive. This is our attempt to find something for PACs and Parties that works as well as the maps do as a basic navigational tool for campaigns.
  
• One example is a graphical summary of PAC or Party financial information that would be a starting point for searching through different subsets of committees or viewing information about one specific committee.  For example, we might use bar graphs do display summary information about the receipts or disbursements of different sets of PACs (e.g. Corporate or Labor sponsored PACs, Independent Expenditure Only PACs, etc.) with links that would lead to summaries for single committees or groups of PACs.
• Any thoughts on how we might do this?
• We're also creating some new summaries for Presidential campaigns.  In 2008 we offered summaries of receipts and disbursements for each specific report - e.g. total contributions by state or total operating expenditures by purpose.  This year we're building similar summaries for each full campaign, not just for a single report. (These don't really become important until July when we might have the second report from at least some Presidential campaigns.)
  
• We're also building a new process that combines the "View/Download Electronic Filings" and "View Images of all Finance Reports" menu options so all of the filings and options for viewing and/or downloading information will appear in one listing. (We expect to have this implemented by April.)
  
• We're also building new Presidential and Congressional maps for 2012.  Keep in mind that Congressional district boundaries will be redrawn this year, so the Congressional map will be changing as states complete their redistricting processes. (These will be ready for the April 15, 2011 filings.)
  
• We're also going to add electioneering communications to our "real-time" data offerings, with a system similar to the one we developed for independent expenditures in 2010. (Not as much time pressure here - as pre-primary windows won't open until around the end of 2011.)
  

We're happy to hear from you with ideas for any of these or different data projects you think we should be working on in this cycle.

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Today we're releasing a new addition to the data catalog - financial summaries for campaigns and committees that give an overview of financial activity in each reporting period during the election cycle.[Read More]

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